European sales rise 14% in October on higher EV demand

Passenger-car deliveries in Europe increased for a 15th month in October, helped by higher demand for battery-electric cars.

Registrations rose 14 percent from a year earlier to 1.04 million units, industry association ACEA said Tuesday, as manufacturers continued to work through order backlogs.

Sales of full-electric vehicles jumped 30 percent to 158,439, overtaking diesels, whose registrations fell 15 percent to 109,998. Gasoline car sales were up 8 percent to 354,409. Sales of plug-in hybrids rose 2 percent to 89,079 and full-hybrid registrations were up 33 percent to 298,390.

The registrations are for the EU, EFTA and U.K. markets.

Download PDF for Europe sales for Oct. and 11 months.

Years of supply-chain disruptions have left Europe's car market with high order banks that have buoyed sales as the economic outlook weakened. While the 20-nation euro-zone is likely to dodge a recession, consumer demand for EVs has shown weakness and the region's biggest economy, Germany, has stagnated.

In France, where registrations jumped 22 percent in October, government subsidies are offsetting lackluster demand and supporting the country's EV transition.

Sales growth in Germany, Europe's largest car market, dwindled to less than 5 percent last month after Berlin ended state subsidies for company EV purchases and leases. EV sales there grew a meager 4.3 percent.

Home to Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Tesla's sole European manufacturing hub, Germany faces more uncertainty about its green initiatives after a ruling from the country's top court last week jeopardized some climate spending plans.

The fallout for the car industry remains unclear, but the decision could affect future investment in the country's chip industry and the rollout of charging stations, developments that could impede the transition to EVs.

Europe's car industry is still bracing for the possibility that trade terms with China could worsen after the European Commission started a probe into Beijing's support for Tesla, BYD and other local automakers.

The investigation, which also involves BMW and other western manufacturers exporting EVs to the EU, is expected to last roughly a year and could see Brussels impose additional import duties and retaliatory measures from China.

Bloomberg contributed to this report